Rachel Toone: Ezra, welcome to the stage.
Ezra: Thank you.
Rachel Toone: Alrighty. You’ve had all this time to practice now, so what’s the first thing you’re doing when finals are done?
Ezra: I don’t know if I’m allowed to say this …
Rachel Toone: should I be concerned?
Ezra: On Friday, I’ll probably go to The Station and have a Manhattan.
Rachel Toone: That’s classy. All right, we’re going to let that one slide. You’re going to have a celebratory post-finals Manhattan at The Station. You are 21?
Ezra: I’m 22.
Rachel Toone: You’re 22. Okay, “T-Swift.” All right. So, Ezra, what comes next for you?
Ezra: Well, I’m currently working at the Montreat Store part-time. I’ll be working with the MRA quite a bit this summer. Hopefully, I will be working with a school called Artspace over in Swannanoa, helping middle school kids in the fall. I’m very excited. After that—this is my gap year—I’m going to try to get into UNC Charlotte for a Master’s in Applied Linguistics.
Rachel Toone: Yeah, you stud! That’s so cool. Such a nerd; I love it. It takes one to know one. All right, Ezra, how did you end up at Montreat? I know this is a pretty cool story.
Ezra: It’s a wild story. I’m from Memphis, Tennessee. I was homeschooled my whole life and came from a very tight-knit family. When I graduated high school at 16, Montreat reached out to me after I took the ACT. I saw the mountains and I was like, “That’s where I want to be.” I dragged my mom up to North Carolina and told her I wanted to come here. She said, “No, you’re 16. You’re not moving eight hours away,” which was fair enough. I was a minor; that’s valid.
I waited about two years—a bunch of life stuff happened—and when I turned 18, I asked, “Okay, I’m old enough. Can I go to North Carolina?” She still said no. It was tough because my whole family was saying, “No, you need to be home. This is where we all go.” There was a school back home that basically my entire family attended, so the expectation was that I would go to college there. I’m very rebellious, so I said, “No, I want to go to North Carolina.”
It was hard for me because all my life I’d had this support system saying, “The world is your oyster,” and then all of a sudden they were saying, “Actually, no, you can’t do that. You need to do this.” But around that time, a mentor came into my life who became like a father to me. He noticed that I loved this school—it wasn’t just wanting to run away; I was dedicated to this program, the academic rigor, and the spiritual influence. He told me, “If you work hard to help pay for it, I will match whatever you do.” That’s how I was actually able to come to this school.
Rachel Toone: If I remember right, there was a concern if you were even going to be able to get here, and he was ready to drive you himself.
Ezra: Yeah. He is very similar to me in that he is very blunt and determined. My mom had gotten to the point where she wasn’t just passively saying I couldn’t go, but actively working against me coming. He told me to my face, “Put your suitcase in my car, and I will drive you up there myself if she does not get her act together.” Luckily, that did not happen. My mom did take me; she was here. It all worked out. We had to work through some things, but she did let me come, and my whole family has been very grateful. They were actually watching the awards ceremony on Monday, so they’re all incredibly supportive now.
Rachel Toone: That’s really awesome. Ezra, what’s something God has taught you during your time here?
Ezra: I’ve learned so many things, and I still know nothing. I think one of the biggest things God has taught me is how to be human. When I first got here, I worked really hard and pushed myself like a machine. I had a very strong messianic complex.
Rachel Toone:I do, too. It’s all right.
Ezra: I had gotten to a point where pushing myself all the time wasn’t working. Seeing myself as a machine wasn’t working. During my sophomore year, I had a relationship that I cared very vaguely about. I saw it as a little ornament on my life because I was more focused on grad school and my career. I didn’t really care about my friendships. That bit me in the butt very hardcore when I got cheated on.
After that, my friend group blew up and I was left completely alone. I realized I couldn’t even be mad at everyone for leaving me alone, because the fact was I hadn’t reached out to anyone. I hadn’t curated any friendships; I treated them all at arm’s length. I never let them know what was going on with me. I was just this machine that always knew the right answers. I always had a scripture, a growth plan, and the answers for everyone else’s problems, but nobody ever knew what was happening with me.
I remember sitting in front of Silvan, crying on the phone to Zeke. I felt so alone. That was the moment I realized, “This is your fault. You need to actually have a support system.” You’re not Jesus; you can’t fix everything and everyone. You need a support system to depend on. Learning how to be human and how to really flourish in community is something that God really taught me.
Rachel Toone: That’s beautiful. Which leads into your word of wisdom, which is particularly great. What is your word of wisdom for the people?
Ezra: I’m looking at all of you guys, especially the honors kids: don’t go to your friends for advice. Go to them for support. I see a lot of people leaning into other 19 or 20-year-olds, asking, “What should I do with my life? What should I do about my family or my faith?” They don’t have the answers. You don’t know, I don’t know—none of us know what we’re doing. It’s the blind leading the blind.
You have these amazing, illustrious professors and all these lovely people in the Montreat community that you can go to. They have lived far longer than anyone else you’re around, and they have gone through these problems and made the dumb mistakes. Go to them. They would love to speak with you. Don’t go to your friends for the answers; they mean well, but they don’t know what they’re talking about.
Rachel Toone: If I remember how you phrased it when we were talking, you said: “Find someone at least 10 years older than you immediately.”
Ezra: Yes, absolutely. Within freshman year—like, come August—just go find them and latch on to them. That’s what I did with Karen at my church.
Rachel Toone: She’s so wonderful; I love her. Find a mentor who is older and wiser.
Beautiful. All right, my friend. We are so proud of you and we love you. Can we give it up for Ezra, please?